Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-07-16

Mrs. leslie Declines to Marry the
Russian NobIeman.


A London special to the New York
Sun says: "There will be no duel be-
tween the Marquis de Leuville and the
Russian Prince Eristoff, who n few
days ago played respectively the parts
of cowhider and cowhided in Hyde
Park. The Marquis thirsted for blood,
so he told his friends, but various inhu-
ences which were brought to bear in
duced the Prince to disappoint the
noble Marquis in his longing. He was
appealed to by Mrs. Leslie not to in
crease painful scandal. and declared
that consideration for her feelings was
sufficient to induce him TO let
the Marquis alone. He has pro-
posed marriage to Mrs Leslie and
has been refused, but that did not
diminish his princely politeness and
consideration. Mrs. Leslie, who has
great confidence in the ability of the
Marquis to do things well, also advanced
the argument that the Marquis, who,
she SAYS, is the best duellist in the
world, would either poke a sword or
send bullet into the Princes vitals,
and that it was beneath him entirely to
be run through or shot by man like
De Leuville. The Prince refused to
consider the question of danger, but
he decided that if Mrs. Leslie's feelings
we're not at stake, his dignity as a
genuine and unquestioned Prince would
prevent him from fighting with a gentle
man who was not even a genuine and
an unquestioned Marquis.
The fight between the padded Mar
ouis and the dark whiskered Prince
would have been funny, and am sorry
to have no hope of ever telling the
| Sans readers all about the fray. The
honor of the Prince risked in not re-
senting q blow i'll the face is shell
tered by the affirmation of Mrs.
Leslie and of her companion,
Miss Bennett, who were in the car
riage With the Prince, that the blow
aimed at his face, did not really touch
him. This account, which does not
agree with that of other eye-witnesses,
makes the Princes position good deal
| better. Mrs. Leslie declares that,
although she has refused to marry the
Prince, she wants to he just to him, and
she says lie lisa real Russian Prince. He
took pains to prove it to her plainly
and clearly when he proposed to her.
He showed her letters from his mother,
who is princess, and his priest and con-
fessor, Mrs. Leslie says, told her also
that the Prince was thoroughly genuine.
The Prince cannot be found to tell
H.. Il,,..c Mrc I oplin tlinlyc
he has gone to the Continent. There
was no reason why he should stay after
she had refused him. Persons acquaint-
ed with the Prince thought he might
perhaps be found at Cromwell Resi-
dences, Earl's Court. With the hope
of being able to tell what kind of
prince Mrs. Leslie had the great good
sense to refuse went to look for him.
The address is little house in little
quarter hard to find just such place
as a prince in q book would retire to
for recuperating purposes and quiet
when fortune had stopped smiling. The
Prince could not be found there. 1t was
the conviction of the people that he
was in Paris, but his address was
rot known. The head of the fam
ily is the gentleman who Mrs. Leslie
thought was the father confessor. The
gentleman who would rather not have
his name printed was quite sure that
he was an English clergyman. He was
once chaplain of the Duchess of
| Northumberland, but had not managed
a church for seven years. The gentle
man seemed to be very fond of the
| Prince, who he said did foolish things
sometimes, but not very often. He
knew all about the Prince. He had,
| in fact, pedigree written by his High
ness. and the facts which the pedigree
contained go to show that Mrs. Leslie
has had the moral courage to refuse the
opportunity of allying herself more or
less distantly with nearly all the great
folk and titles that there are
The full name of the Prince who de-
sired to marry her is George Eristoff
De Gourie. He is the son of Prince
David Eristoff and of Princess Barbe
(nc6 Dardian), of Mingrelia. This
makes him the cousin of the Prince of
Minarelia, whom the Gar has been
irving to setup on the Bulgarian throne.
| The Princes only sister is married to
| Prince Ferdinand, heir to Witgenstein-
Berlebourg. His grandmother on his
fathers side was the Tzarevna Nina,
daughter of George Kill, the last
King of Georgia, who resigned in favor
| of the Russian Car in 1902. He has a
cousin married to Achille Murat Bona
parte. Another cousin is married to
| Prince Constantine of Oldenburg, who
| is the cousin of the German Emperor.
There is likewise romance enough in
his family to capture an ordinary ro-
mantle heart. His great aunt was stolen
in the Caucasus when she was child
bv the Turks. She was raised Mo-
hammedan and put in the Sultan's ha-
rem, and is the mother of the present
| Turkish Sultan, who has such hard
luck. The great aunt learned by acct
dent that she was not born Moham-
medan. She turned Christian, left the
harem, and died in convent.
The Prince has two brothers. One
is a school-boy, and the other was on
| the point short time ago of marrying
a grand princess of Persia. The affair
fell through. Our Prince has many
other claims to our respect, including
a fire-eating uncle in Paris, who is
prince with many g's and is in his
name. The above is enough to show
that in the way of relations Prince
| Eristoff is well to the front.
Having refused so many titles wrap
ped up in one. Mrs. Leslie wants no.
thing to do with titles at all. She was
at the theatre tonight, and not soil
tary titled person was in her box. All
her friends sympathize with her in
having been brought into an unplea-
SAINT position, and congratulate her on
having sent the titled quarrellers off.
The Marquis has apologized in writing
for having whipped the Prince in Mrs.
Leslie's carriage
The sensation has caused talk about
the Marquis, and developed theory
concerning him which sounds new. 1t
makes him the son of very clever Ok
ford.street halter. AS boy he was
even smarter than his father. He con-
Guided that the life of marquis was
much gayer than that of the very clever
est hatter, and went in for a gay life.
Tennyson has very bad memory for